Contents

Biography

Patch, being the most iconic of all the pups, was featured in the animated movies (even gaining the staring and title role in the sequel). Patch is one of the larger pups in Pongo and Perdita's litter. He also appears in the Dodie Smith novel.

The Book

In the Dodie Smithnovel, Patch was born with a black marking on him at birth, this was regarded as unusual since Dalmatians are born pure white and most would drown pups like that, however the Dearlys chose not to do so, feeling it seemed nice he started life with a bit of bad luck (it is also hinted they like the black mark because it made him easier to recognize).

He was mainly seen to always be in Cadpig's company, looking out for her, whenever he could.

Bio

In the animated movie, Patch was seen to be quite a barker, whilst watching The Thunderbolt Adventure Hour, he would often get into the show and start chewing on the carpet, cursing at the villain; Dirty Dawson, resulting in him being told off by Perdita, wondering where he got such language. When Pongo suggests the Pups head to bed, Patch objects by saying they're not sleepy, yawning as he says this.

Later in the movie, He is the pup who informs his parents how many pups there are in Hell Hall and what Cruella had planned Horace and Jasper to do.

As they make their way through the countryside, the Dalmatians soon reach Dimsford. Patch and Lucky then get into a play wrestle in the soot, before Lucky blows soot in his brother's face. In retaliation, Patch pushes Lucky into the soot pile, and the two continue fighting. When Pongo and Perdita find them all covered in soot, this gives Pongo the idea of covering themselves in soot to avoid being spotted by Cruella.

In 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure, Patch was shown to be an extremely obsessive Thunderbolt fan, having seen all 72 episodes and can remember every single one by heart. He was described, however, to be "lost in the sea of spots," feeling as though he was just part of one hundred and one, rather than one of a kind.

He hears that Thunderbolt is in London and is holding auditions for a guest part in a new episode. Pongo says that he is unable to go as the Audition day is the same day the family is moving to Devon.

After being unable to sleep with the other Dalmatians in the attic, Patch slept in the Kanine Krunchies bag downstairs in the kitchen. This results in the Radcliffe family accidentally forgetting him. Thinking that they're not going to miss him, Patch goes to the audition.

At the audition he meets his hero, Thunderbolt. The audition is to give the most heroic bark. Patch, however, messes up and humiliates himself with a squeaky bark. He meets Thunderbolt, whom is trying to get in the paper after hearing he might get killed off in the next story, and Thunderbolt sees that he is able to use Patch’s knowledge of all his heroic deeds. To get the info needed, Thunderbolt tricks Patch into a "Junior Deputy Test" to get some attention from the tabloids, mimicking stuff he does on the show. His publicity stunts, however, get no attention.

After a while, doing their "heroic" deeds around London, Thunderbolt actually starts taking a liking for Patch.

They then hear from the "Twilight Bark" that the Dalmatians have been captured again by Cruella, Patch convinces Thunderbolt to help.

When they reach where the pups are being held, both he and Thunderbolt get captured too, and it's revealed, much to Patch’s shock, that Thunderbolt isn't a real hero, he’s just an actor.

Upon consulting with Lucky, Patch remembers an escape trick from Episode 18 of Thunderbolt, allowing him to escape and free all the other Pups. He then makes a trampoline out of an art palette to jump through the skylight and the pups escape to a London bus.

When some of the pups accidentally start the bus, Patch steers the bus around London, pursued by Cruella, Horace and Jasper before Patch confronts Cruella herself in a fashion similar to how he saw in a "Thunderbolt" episode. Upon defeating Cruella, Pongo and Perdita find Patch, much to their delight, and the pups tell them about Patch's heroism, Thunderbolt calling him a "one of a kind wonder dog."

In the post credits of the film, it is said that Patch becomes Thunderbolt's new sidekick in the show.

In The Series, Patch is seen to be more bulky and again, one of the larger pups. He wears a rope around his neck instead of a collar and is usually seen as a background character.
There have been some occasions where he does have some small roles.

In "Close But No Cigar", Patch comes into the barn to warn Lucky, Cadpig, Rolly and Spot that the bus is about to set off for the county fair, when the pups respond by saying they're watching television, Patch shrugs this off and heads to the bus.

In "Prima Doggy", When the farm animals congratulate Lucky on getting a role in a dog food commercial; Patch is amongst the first to ask for Lucky's paw print. He is later seen in the episode to be part of Lucky’s entourage at the studio, then again back in the Dearly Farm barn, commenting on how he hopes being a Star doesn't go to Spot's head as it did with Lucky.

In "Shrewzle Watch", Lucky sets up pups around the Farm, during the Night, in attempt to spot this "tree shrewzle" that Cruella claims is on the property. He, Cadpig, Rolly and Spot are later awakened by the howl of a Pup who has spotted them. When they go to where the barking was coming from, Patch pops out of the bushes, asking where they've been. This scares the four, causing them to jump into the air in fright. Patch then informs them that the shrewzle climbed up the Chow Tower, ten minutes prior.

He was later seen in "Citizen Canine" where he is sun bathing with Rolly in a wheelbarrow, before Ed Pig tells the two of their disrespect for the law after Rolly says "bacon". He is then seen telling Lucky on how Mayor Pig is giving out free bones, during the election campaign.

In a VHS release of "Dalmatian Vacation", there is a "Surf Puppies" musical number in which Patch is seen eating Roger's hot dog and belching in Roger's face.

In an original concept for the show, Patch was meant to be amongst one of the main pups and supposed to have a mischievous side. The idea, however, was dropped when the show was released.

His concept designs also show him to have a more round appearance, with a head shape similar to Rolly's, but his design later becomes more block-like. He also has a rope collar in the concept images too.

House of Mouse

Patch appears with Patch as part of Dodger's singing group for "Everybody Wants to Be a Woof".

Electric Holiday

In the animated short, Patch makes a brief cameo during the end credits, gnawing on Cruella's design sketch.

Changes in Appearance

As seen in the original One Hundred and One Dalmatians and its sequel, he is one of the normal shaped and average looking pups. He wears a red color and one of his eyes is completed dyed in pitch black, as is one of his ears. However, in the series, this concept was changed; his appearance resembled that of Rolly's, larger and somewhat muscular, and had a rope tied around his neck, replacing his red collar. His voice was also deeper in pitch. In the original books, Patch was described as being unusually larger than the other puppies, suggesting that his series design was modeled after his book description.

Another thing is in the original film, the black patch in his eye is at the same side of his black ear. But in the sequel, it was on opposite sides. Additionally, there is a brief scene in the original film where Patch is shown with two black ears. Patch also had no trouble barking in the first film, in fact he is quite a barker, he barked more than often than the other pups. But as shown in the sequel, he has a squeaky bark and often gets mocked at by this.

Voice Actors

Trivia

In the 1961 animation, his collar doesn't have a tag hanging from it, but in Patch's London Adventure, it is shown to have one. However, this is somewhat justified because the farm tag was attached to it in the sequel.

Patch has two different colored ears: one black and one white. In the original film, his white ear was on the left, and his black ear was on the right. In one scene, he had two black ears like his father and brother. In the sequel, his two different colored ears have changed. His black ear was on the left, and his white ear was on the right. Patch was the only Dalmatian pup with a black ear.

His appearance in the TV series undergoes a drastic change; he appears to be fatter and more muscular, as well as having a deeper-pitched voice. Additionally, his red collar is replaced with a rope tied around his neck. He keeps his signature black patch on his right eye, though. This is similar to how he appears in the books.

He is the only Dalmatian that has black markings at birth (Dalmatians are notably born pure white).

Patch had no trouble barking in the first film, but as shown in the sequel, he has a squeaky bark.

Patch is shown to be a hardcore Thunderbolt fan, knowing all 72 episodes by heart.

At the post credits of the sequel, Patch is shown to be the new sidekick of Thunderbolt's show.

Patch was initially going to be a major character in the series; however, he became a minor character due to Disney fearing that there were too many main characters in the series. Penny, another character who was to play a major role, was dropped altogether.

In "Prima Doggy", Patch appears prominently among the other main characters in most of the episode; however, he only has two lines. This could have been a remnant of him being an initial main character.

According to Disney animators, Patch has 32 spots.

According to Disneystrology, his birthday is July 23, despite the animated 101 Dalmatians claiming that the Dalmatian pups were born in October, according to Pongo.

Due to his size and behavior, he is most likely 10-12 (in human perspective).